MARKET DAY AND SEWING

Quentin is staying with us for a few days. 

We went to Lowell's for breakfast, then wandered around the Market.  We walked up to the Rainier Tower, looking at the architecture of it and the new tower being built next to it.  

Next stop was the Seattle Art Museum,  we had a few minutes before it opened, so I sat and sketched the Hammering Man. 

Quentin enjoyed some of the exhibits.

 He especially enjoyed the interactive activities in the Special Exhibit: Victorian Radicals.  There was a projector where you could arrange small pieces of plastic where they were arranged like a kaleidoscope and displayed on the wall above.  It was great fun.

 Darrell and Quentin went up into the Smith Tower, while I stayed in the Irish Pub below and sketched.  They joined me afterward and we had a nice Irish lunch.

We took the light rail back to Westlake and then walked back to the Market and the car.

Unfortunately, we drove down to Alaskan Way where it took us the better part of an hour to go the half mile to get to Hwy 99 and out of town.  The traffic was at a complete standstill because of the construction, or should I say deconstruction of the old viaduct.

When we got home, Quentin and I made a pillowcase from the fabrics he had picked out.

THE DEMISE OF THE VIADUCT

Darrell and I went downtown this morning.  First stop was breakfast at The Biscuit Bitch.

Then we walked down to the waterfront to take pictures of the Viaduct being torn apart.  There's getting to be not much of it left.

 

VIADUCT GOING

We went to Pike Place Market today.  I wanted some Polish Pottery in a bad way.  We had lunch at Copacabana Cafe on the second floor off Post Alley.  It was nice - the sun was out.  The food was just okay.

We went down to check out the Viaduct and how it's going - they are in the process of tearing it down.  The view wa definitely more enjoyable without the traffic noise.

I worked on a project from last fall's Joe Retreat and actually finished the top.  I don't know what I'm going to do with it now.  Should I just quilt it?  If so, then how?  Answers appreciated.  Thank you.

THEMES OF MY ARTWORK

The themes of my artwork come from events in my everyday life. Subjects can range from scenes in an alley-way to the view of my husband and dog from the passenger seat.

For the last twenty-five years I've been a full time truck driver. The view from the cab of a Kenworth truck has provided plenty of inspiration. I enjoy the play of light and shadow on the ever-present cement structures found in urban settings.

I've been working on a series of paintings about that - freeways, overpasses, bridges, pillars and buildings. The challenge is to show the beauty in what is generally thought of as just ugly cement. I like the way the light plays on them, the way it highlights their shapes and creates new shapes in the shadow, light interplay.

I've set myself a challenge of at least eight such paintings for this series.

I've entitled the series Testament. I'm not sure if I can explain how I arrived at that title, or if I even should! In my mind, it has to do with what the future archeologists will think about what they find from our culture. Because they are so huge and everywhere, I imagine they will survive us. They will be the testament to our way of life.


This is the first, I've entitled TESTAMENT #1: Columbia